‘I did get inspiration from her videos, and I was inspired by her,’ choreographer Danielle Flora says of show-stopping subway rendition.

At the 2009 Video Music Awards, Taylor Swift not only took over the subway for her show-stopping rendition of her VMA-winning hit, “You Belong With Me,” but she also took over Sixth Avenue and sang her heart out in a girly, apple-red dress. Choreographer Danielle Flora, who worked with the singer on the performance, admits that her Lucas Till-starring video played a major role in the staging and choreography of the performance.

“I did seek a lot of inspiration from her video. I mean, I think it’s important to know someone’s work and what they’ve done, especially if you’re going to be choreographing for them,” Flora told MTV News. “You need to know what their style is and what they like and … really understand who they are. And I think I did get inspiration from her videos, and I was inspired by her.”

As it turns out, Swift herself was as much an inspiration as the Roman White-directed video. “She is pretty amazing. I am inspired by her songwriting abilities,” she said. “She is a very interesting girl. She is a very smart girl.”

In the video, Swift plays two characters, the nice girl next door and the raven-haired bad girl. In real life, as expected, Swift, who is set to release her new video, “Mine,” on Friday (August 27), is definitely more of the former.

“Taylor Swift is exactly what you see. I mean, it’s not a front that she puts on,” Flora said of the megastar. “She actually really is the nice girl. She is gracious and thankful and she goes the extra mile to thank people and she works really hard and that also extends to the people around her. Everyone around her, her supporting crew, is awesome, too.”

That made working with Swift for her “You Belong With Me” VMA performance that much more enjoyable. “It’s really nice. It makes everyone else’s jobs so much easier and you know she really is just a nice girl,” Flora said.